Joel Freedman: US Senate should condemn Inhofe’s cruelty

Sunday

Mar 19, 2017 at 2:01 AM

Joel Freedman

When U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, held his annual fundraiser — a live pigeon shoot — on Sept. 5, 2014, Rusty Appleton, Inhofe’s campaign manager, told a participant, “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called the district attorney and the sheriff on us for doing this, and of course nobody cared.”

A Showing Animals Respect and Kindness investigator attended the event undercover. A Mariachi band played while 1,000 live pigeons were thrown from cages into the air to be shot by fundraiser participants. The majority of birds weren’t killed instantly and were left to suffer without food, water, shelter or veterinary care. Some wounded pigeons were kicked across the ground or propelled back into the air to be shot again, or were tossed alive into plastic bags along with dead birds for disposal.

SHARK’s video of the event went viral, exposing Inhofe’s cruelty nationwide. Because the birds were killed for entertainment rather than for human consumption and were treated inhumanely, many hunters joined animal rights activists in condemning this event. Responding to criticism by members of the Cherokee Nation for his participation in Inhofe’s pigeon shoot, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker apologized for attending the event, which can be viewed at bit.ly/2nneVs4.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation personnel viewed SHARK’s video and realized the event occurred on federal property and that Inhofe misused federal lands. BOR warned the property manager not to allow the property to be used for any more pigeon shoots.

In 2015 and 2016, Inhofe held his pigeon shoot fundraisers on private land. At the 2015 event, somebody shot down the drone SHARK used to monitor the goings-on. Last year, SHARK personnel, in addition to filming the event, returned to the property and rescued 28 wounded pigeons that Inhofe and other shooters left to die agonizing deaths. They brought the birds to the Wildcare Foundation’s sanctuary. Rondi Large, of Wildcare, said, “The birds were dehydrated. Infection has been setting in on some of these guys because they have open wounds.” Six of the birds couldn’t be saved.

SHARK has been unsuccessful in its attempts to stop Inhofe’s pigeon shoots through enforcement of Oklahoma’s laws prohibiting cruelty to animals or to prompt the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee to at least reprimand Inhofe.

No members of Congress have spoken up about Inhofe’s cruelty. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, who has an excellent record for supporting animal protection legislation, hasn’t condemned Inhofe’s pigeon shoot. During his presidential campaign last year when Sanders was asked if he could work well with Republicans as well as Democrats if he was elected president, Sanders mentioned his friendship with Inhofe as evidence that he could do so. He referred to Inhofe as “a very decent man.”

Many years ago, late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, urged his colleagues, “Let us not fail in our divine mission. Let us strive to be good stewards and not defile God’s creatures or ourselves by tolerating unnecessary, abhorrent and repulsive cruelty.” It saddens me that such sentiments are largely absent nowadays in all levels of American government. It is especially important that elected officials who are conscientious about trying to prevent cruelty to animals not hesitate to confront colleagues who perpetuate the kinds of “repulsive cruelty” that Inhofe participates in.

Joel Freedman, of Canandaigua, is a frequent Messenger Post contributor.

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